Continued: Engineering

Ambler said he believes engineering education is vital to the nation’s future.

“The U.S. does not produce nearly enough engineers and is dependent upon an awful lot of qualified engineers coming in from overseas,” Ambler said. “We must continue to do our utmost to encourage the best and the brightest from the rest of the world to come here, but also convince more of our own sons and daughters that engineering is a very worthwhile profession, and then give them the best education they can possibly get.”

USC’s College of Engineering and Computing is home to five academic departments: chemical engineering, civil and environmental engineering, computer science and engineering, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. The college also supports interdisciplinary degree programs in biomedical engineering (B.S., M.S., Ph.D.), nuclear engineering (M.S., Ph.D.), and engineering science (BS). There are approximately 94 full-time faculty members, 1,600 undergraduate students and 450 graduate students in the college.

Ambler will officially start as dean Jan. 1. Dr. Harry Ploehn has been serving as interim dean of the College of Engineering and Computing.